As is known to the art, lawn edgers are generally used to cut a narrow swath of grass from the area immediately adjacent to walkways, driveways, landscape features, buildings and the like. This edging gives the lawn a clean, well manicured look that is pleasing to the eye and easier to mow and maintain than unedged lawns.
A variety of lawn edgers are known to the art for use in residential and commercial settings. The vast majority of these machines use a single blade that rotates in a substantially vertical plane rather than in the horizontal plane normally used by standard lawn mowers. The blades are typically 1/8" to 1/4" thick, and cut a swath of approximately equal thickness.
In certain situations it is desirable to have a somewhat wider cut than is available with standard lawn edgers. Thus, a variety of specialty blades have been developed with varying degrees of success. For example, U.S Pat. No. 2,913,058 to Smith et al. discloses a lawn edger which may include horizontal blades adapted to cut a somewhat wider path. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,507 to Henry et al. discloses a trimming machine with wide blades for trimming grass areas along curbing or the like. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,573 to Williamson discloses a lawn edger apparatus having a wide (up to 1/2") blade for providing a wider edge cut to lawn.
In other attempts to provide wide lawn edging cuts multiple blades have been used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,042 to Barton et al. discloses an apparatus for cutting lines on athletic fields comprising a multiplicity of spaced-apart blades. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,590 to Shank uses multiple blades for cutting a furrow between a sidewalk edge and the adjacent soil.
None of the lawn edging machines of the prior art were particularly useful for the homeowner seeking a quick, easy and inexpensive method for providing wide edging cuts of a variety of widths. With prior art machines only one width of cut was generally available, the machines being particularly adapted for a single, unique purpose.
A need therefore continues to exist for a lawn edgers with blades that cut a wider path than is available from standard lawn edgers. A need also exists for a lawn edger with interchangeable blades so that a particular, desired cut width can be achieved. The present invention addresses both of these needs.